From Wonderland to Oz
by WogglebugLoveProductions
Summary: The first in a trilogy. Amanda and Andrew run away from the real world and enter the library to discover the magical worlds of Wonderland and Oz and that there is no place like home.
1. Chapter 1

Amanda McNicolson was sitting dejectedly on the couch in her living room. She appeared to be watching the television set but was really not the least bit interested in what was on it. She was far too deep in her misery to care about it. Her gaze shifted over to the shelves nearby her and rested on the old photograph of her family, or rather of what her family formerly had been.

Her parents had just recently divorced and now she and her mother were living alone together. She truly did not like these new living conditions at all. She did not understand her parents reasons for divorcing, well perhaps she did in a way as they had been arguing vehemently with each other on and on for many months beforehand about things which she had no clue about. And this had gotten progressively worse and worse and at times she would be scared when she could hear their loud voices and would cry herself to sleep privately and just hope that they would not go away and leave her all alone.

And now it seemed one of them had indeed left her all alone, her and her mother. And in the past week her mother had seemed to be growing very distant from her. She rarely spoke to her anymore, and never smiled or showed any positivity whatsoever. When on one occasion when Amanda had asked her why this was she had replied that she was just so busy now in looking for a new job for herself. Amanda was not fully satisfied with this answer at all, as it seemed to her that her mother was neglecting the job she already had, which was in being a mother to her only daughter. And it seemed now it was only a matter of time before she also would be leaving her all alone.

Amanda sighed as she turned away from the family photograph before her tears could come. _Well,_ she thought to herself bitterly, _if they both don't care about me then I won't care about them either. And I will leave her before she leaves me._

She scooted slowly off of the couch and went to the closet where she got her blue hooded jacket. She put it on, tying the hood on, and then walked slowly towards the kitchen where her mother was busily talking on the phone with someone.

"Mom?" she said weakly. Her mother did not answer, or even seemed to hear her. "I am leaving you now," she continued. And again there was no answer or any motion of acknowledgment from her mother at all.

Amanda grimaced as she turned rapidly on her heel and rushed back out. She opened the front door and hurried outside. She found her bicycle that was parked near the garage and hopped onto it and sped away down the sidewalk to where she didn't know or much care where she went.

It was at this same time on the other side of the neighborhood that Andrew Kensley had just arrived back to his house along with his parents, and aunts and uncles and cousins, and a dozen friends of theirs. They had all just arrived back from the funeral of his just recently departed grandmother on his mother's side, and she had been the last of his grandparents to depart from this world.

As he and everyone entered into the house it became very crowded and very noisy with a dozen conversations between just about everyone there. Everyone seemed to be talking all at once. He could only catch a few words being spoken by a few of them.

"She has finally gone now," said his Uncle Chester to his Aunt Nell. "It's just unimaginable. She was so full of life all the time. I always thought she would live to be a hundred years old, or more than that."

"So did I," replied his aunt sadly. "So did I. But there comes a time for all of us when we must depart. And she is at least in a much better place right now."

"As I've heard, she has left half of her savings to me and you," he heard his father say to his mother. "And also her valued china sets and her collection of books and her priceless knick-knacks, and candles and..."

Andrew was confused by a lot of the things he heard everyone talking about, and not just about who his grandmother had left some of her belongings to, but mostly about how she could possibly be in a much better place right now and still be gone from them as they were all saying. After all, wasn't this place they had right here and now the best place for her, like he remembered she had always said to everyone she would rather be here with them than in any other place.

He then found himself remembering the last time he had seen his grandmother, it was two weeks before she had died, and she just played checkers with him as they liked to do and then she had said to him,

"You are very wise in your head, Andrew, and not just when it comes to games like this. I believe you can obtain the wisdom of all of the world if you just desired to do so, and that you are also very pure in heart and remember that it is the heart that always leads us home."

Andrew had not completely been sure he understood what she had meant by all of this. So he had just smiled and nodded to her. And then he and his parents had left her house, not knowing it would be the last time they would see her there.

As he looked around at everyone, all the faces and the voices of them became a blur. They all seemed to be so interested in only each others words that they didn't even notice he was right in the middle of them. The more this went on the more he felt like he just wanted to shout out loud enough to be heard above everyone else, but then he realized they would not like it if he did so. And so he decided he would just leave them to themselves and not bother them.

He crept quietly to the front door and turned the doorknob slowly and silently, and then crept outside. He went to the old shed by the house and got out his bicycle, hopped onto it, and then sped away on it down the sidewalk.

Amanda was speeding down the sidewalk on her own bike and her heart was so heavy inside her that it was a wonder why she could peddle so fast, and her mind was very cloudy also as she was trying to think about where she could go, or who she could go to, and what she could do there. But her mind kept coming up as a blank.

Andrew was at this same time thinking all of these same things with a very heavy heart also. And he was so preoccupied in his own thoughts that he did not even notice there was another bicycle with a girl on it speeding right towards him from up the opposite end of the sidewalk. And she did not even notice him coming up to her either, and so before either of them had known what was happening, there was a hard collision of wheels and handlebars against each other and they both came clattering down onto the solid concrete right along with their bikes.

Andrew got up slowly and shook his head, much dazed and confused by what had just happened. He looked over and saw the girl getting up slowly, and her face was very red and her hair was a mess.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," he said weakly. "I didn't see you there. My name is Andrew Kensley, by the way."

"My name is Amanda McNicolson," she replied as she stood up and picked up her bicycle. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "I just want to go someplace far away from here, to a much beter place. And where are you going?"

"I don't know, and I don't care, either," she replied. "I just want to get away from here and from everyone around here."

"Why?" asked Andrew.

"Because it seems no one wants me around here anymore," she replied hotly. "No one even notices I'm here anymore either."

"It's been the same way with me," said Andrew. "So you're running away," he continued thoughtfully.

"Yes, so?" she replied.

"So," he replied, "I guess I am running away too. And so since neither of us have any idea of where to go, maybe we should join each other along the way. You know, just to help each other get by, at least for a while?"

"You want me to come with you?" she asked skeptically. "This had better not be a joke."

"No, it isn't," he assured her. "I really am leaving this neighborhood, this city, this state, and maybe evn this country and world even. I just want to go to a place where I will be understood and accepted, and where I can understand everyone also."

"Me too," said Amanda. "So, okay. You seem like an okay guy anyway. So let's get out of here."

And so saying they each hopped back onto their bikes and sped away down the sidewalk once again by each others sides.

A few hours went by, and the sky overhead began to become overcast with very gray clouds, and the wind began to pick up steadily and then it started to become fierce. Then a low rumble of thunder was heard overhead and then a few small droplets of rain began to fall down.

Andrew and Amanda did not much care about the rain at first when it was rather light, but then as it began to come down harder and harder and then all of sudden it started to really pour and plummet down onto then and they started to become soaked and the sidewalk beneath them began to become rather slippery.

"We've got to find some place to go in for shelter from this storm soon!" Andrew exclaimed to Amanda above the roaring thunder.

Amanda needed to hear no other encouragement, and she looked around frantically and then she spotted a building far away to the left of them across the road.

"Quick! Let's go there!" she exclaimed to Andrew.

So they picked up the speed on their bikes and rushed towards the building. As they neared it they saw it was an enormous library with stone pillars and large stone lions on either side. The two children went up to the side of the library and leaped off of their bikes and left them leaning against the pillars as they hurried up the stone steps of the building and rushed through the doors.

Once inside of the warm and dry atmosphere of the library they both exhaled heavily with relief to be inside and away from the rain and lightning. Then as they looked around they saw tall shelves of rows upon rows of books, more than they had ever seen before, and more it seemed than they would be able to read in a lifetime.

They moved forward a short ways, and then they spotted a large wooden desk behind which they saw a tall and thin man with graying hair sticking out at either side of his head and wearing a dark brown vest and a matching bow-tie. He looked up from his seat and seemed to be delighted when he spotted them.

"Hello, my young friends," he said amicably as he stepped out from behind his desk to greet them. "I am very pleased to see you. What might I do for you two?"

"Thank you," said Amanda, "we just want..."

"Wait! Now don't tell me, let me guess. I have a talent for guessing what people need!" the librarian interrupted excitedly. "What you want... what you need... is... adventure... and excitement... and the means to gain knowledge, and wisdom, and to learn about life in general! Yes, what you need is... Fantasy!"

"You don't understand," said Andrew. "We just came to..."

"Now, if you please, come with me you two," the librarian continued anxiously as he led them down an aisle of books.

He stopped at the end of the aisle and took out two medium sized blue books, then he turned around and picked out three more books, one green, one orange, and one red from the bottom shelf. Then he stood up and he handed the first two books to Amanda and then the next three to Andrew.

"There you are," he said with satisfaction. "Now, I will lead you to where you may sit and read and rest until you are ready to leave here."

They followed the librarian to an open space in between the aisles of book where there was a long table and two small sofas where they could read comfortably. Then he turned around and he left them alone.

Amanda sat down and looked at the two books she had been given. They were _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,_ and _Through the Looking Glass_ by Lewis Carroll. Then Andrew sat down beside her and looked at the three books he had been given. They were _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz_ , and _The Lost Princess of_ Oz by L. Frank Baum.

"Well, what do we do now?" Amanda asked Andrew.

"Well, I guess we should just read these, until the storm has passed," said Andrew with a shrug.

And so they each opened a book... and then... something very strange happened...


	2. Chapter 2

No sooner had either of them opened up their books and looked at the words on the pages, than did the pages begin to glow a very brilliant shade of white, so bright was it they blinked and rubbed their eyes at it. And then they began to hear what sounded like far off distant musical notes and chimes, and these seemed to be coming directly through the lights in the books. And then, all of a sudden, they could feel themselves moving suddenly forward, and into the light. They then heard a low, whispering voice say to them,

" _Come in... Come into the pages... Come into your most wondrous fantasies and adventures... Come in."_

Then before they had time to wonder who had spoken to them, they both suddenly felt themselves being lifted up in the air as the light before them grew and expanded and then seemed to be reaching outward to them. Then it suddenly was surrounding them everywhere, and then they felt themselves taking a sudden deep plunge forward into the light.

Then an amazing vortex opened up within the light and they began plummeting forward through it. As they went, they saw many brilliant colors flashing in and out at them like a dazzling rainbow that was in the shape of a pentagon, growing out and then flying out at them. And so fast and bright was it that it really was a wonder why they did not become blinded by it.

"What is happening, Andrew?" exclaimed Amanda.

"I have no idea!" exclaimed Andrew. "It feels like we're going over the rainbow."

"It feels more like falling down a big hole to me," exclaimed Amanda.

"Well, whatever this is," said Andrew, "I just hope we come out of it in one piece!"

Just then, they took a sudden dip downward into a spiral formed in the vortex they were in. The many colors around them became blended together in one huge flashing white light. Then they both lost sight of the other.

Amanda found herself landing with a plop onto a large bed of flowers on top of a very green grassy hilltop somewhere. She sat up slowly and dazedly, shook her head and blinked to focus her vision, and then let out a little gasp at the sight of the new place she was now in.

She found she was on a very big and beautiful landscape that was covered in the greenest grass she had ever seen, and also had the prettiest flowers she had ever seen. A little way off she could see a river flowing clear water along it, and on the bank of it she saw an older girl who was wearing a long old fashioned pink dress and holding a book up to her face.

Amanda was considering going up to the older girl to ask her where she was, when she suddenly heard a soft little meow of a cat near beside her. She turned to her side and saw a very pretty white kitten with thick snowy white wavy fur and huge sky blue eyes that had a red bow tied around her neck. It looked up at her with much curiosity and she looked at it with the very same expression.

Just then she heard the voice of a young girl call out, "Dinah!"

She looked up and saw a small girl, who couldn't have been any older than herself, running towards her and the kitten. She had long flowing blonde hair that fell down her shoulders and back and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a short blue dress with a white apron over it and white stockings and black Mary-Jane shoes. She hurried up to them and crouched down beside the cat and scooped it up into her arms and cradled it as though it were a baby of hers. Then she looked with immense curiosity towards Amanda who was still sitting speechless in the flowerbed.

Then the other girl smiled and made a neat little curtsy and in a voice with an accent that sounded more proper than Amanda had ever heard coming from other girls her age she said, "Hello, my name is Alice Liddel, and this is my cat, Dinah. We are very pleased to meet you. What has brought you here?"

Amanda blinked in confusion and replied, "That is what I would like to know also. Where exactly is... here?"

"Why, this is the land of Oxford, in the country of England," replied Alice, sounding rather confused at Amanda's questioning. "Where do you come from, might I ask? You have the most peculiar accent I have ever heard from anyone."

"I could actually say the same thing about you," said Amanda with a slight chuckle. "I am from the land of America, in the country of the United States."

"Oh, I see!" said Alice. "That explains why you talk so funny. I've heard a lot about America in my lessons, but I'd never seen it, though I might like to someday. It does tend to get rather boring around here at times."

"Well," said Amanda, "where I came from it's much worse actually. That is why I ran away from it."

"You ran away from your own home?" Alice said sounding rather shocked. "But why would you do such a thing? Won't your parents worry about you?"

"No, I'm sure they won't," replied Amanda frowning. "You see, they divorced."

"What does that word mean, 'divorced'?" inquired Alice curiously.

"It means that they stopped being married to each and then they stopped living together," Amanda explained bitterly. "And now they have both moved themselves away from me, too. So I had to leave them. What else could I have done? They don't want me anymore."

Alice looked at her with great sympathy and concern. "Oh, I see," she said softly. "And I do suppose it is often difficult to understand the ways of the grown up people wherever one may live. I myself often have the same problem with my parents. And my sister, too, who is almost a grown-up. That is her over there by the riverbank. She likes to read book that have no pictures, or even any conversations in them. I could never understand the use of reading such boring books."

Amanda was just about to reply, when all of sudden she spotted something out of the corner of her right eye. She looked, and then did a double take, and then saw it was a small rabbit with white fur and pink eyes, and it was walking upright and dressed in neat and fancy clothes. Then she saw it take a golden watch out from its waistcoat pocket.

"Alice," Amanda whispered to her new friend. "Look! It's a rabbit!"

"What is so unusual about that?" asked Alice.

"It's wearing clothes and it has a watch!" exclaimed Amanda in astonishment.

"Oh! Well, that really is something that is quite unusual!" exclaimed Alice.

Just then the white rabbit's pink eyes grew very wide as it looked at its watch and it exclaimed in much horror, "Oh, my ears and whiskers! I shall be too late!"

The rabbit then bounded away down the lane in a great hurry. Then Alice set Dinah down on the ground and rushed after the rabbit. Amanda then hurried after her.

"Alice, wait a minute!" she exclaimed after her. "You shouldn't go after the rabbit! We don't know where he came from! And he might not want us to follow him!"

But either Alice did not hear her being too far ahead, or just didn't heed her warnings. She ran onward with Amanda running after her. Then they both came to an abrupt stop when they saw the rabbit dash into a hole at the bottom of a hill.

"Well, that is the last we'll see of him, I guess," said Amanda with a shrug.

However, just as she spoke, Alice bent down on all fours beside the hole and began to crawl into the hole that the rabbit had gone into.

"Alice! What in the world are you doing now!" Amanda exclaimed in horror.

Just then Alice vanished into the hole, then Amanda heard a short cry of surprise from Alice and then rushed up to the hole and peered inside, just in time to see the last of Alice falling away down into the deep hole.

Amanda paused a moment and thought about what she should do. She remembered all the warnings she had been given about going into deep, dark places like holes, and also about going after things she didn't understand. But then at the same time she knew she couldn't let Alice go down all alone.

And so with a deep breath she bent down and crawled into the hole and then soon found herself falling down a long deep tunnel. She went down, down, and down. Farther and farther. And just when she was beginning to wonder when the fall would end or if she would ever meet with Alice again, she suddenly saw Alice falling down alongside her.

"Well," said Alice in bemusement. "After this I shall think nothing of falling downstairs! And how brave they'll all think of me at home, and you, too!" she added when she saw Amanda.

"If we ever do get back up again, you mean," said Amanda. "What if we fall right through the center of the Earth?"

"Then I guess we'll meet with the people who walk upside down on their heads called the Antipathies in New Zealand... or is that Australia?" asked Alice.

Amanda started to reply, but just then they both suddenly landed with a soft thump onto a mound of dry leaves and grass at the end of their fall. They both looked up and were just in time to see the white rabbit hurrying down a long tunnel. Alice was the first to get up and she hurried after him as fast as she could. Then, with a sigh of exasperation, Amanda ran after Alice as fast as she could.

The two girls ran down a long corridor that began to look more and more like the inside of an enormous mansion the farther they went through it. They then entered into a long hallway and watched just as the rabbit dashed through a very small doorway and closed the door behind him.

They stopped in the hallway and paused to catch their breaths a moment and then Amanda looked towards Alice and said, "Well, what do you think we should do now?"

"Well," said Alice thoughtfully, "I don't suppose either of us will ever be able to fit through that tiny door if we tried to. I just wish there was a way we could get through it."

Alice then bent down and tried to open the little door unsuccessfully, finding it to be locked shut.

"Oh dear!" Alice sighed, sounding on the brink of tears. "Now how she will ever get out of here?"

"Look," said Amanda. "This must be the key to the door." She gestured to a small table behind them made of solid glass that had a little golden key on it.

Alice then took the key, bent down and opened the little door with it, and poked her head through it. "Oh my!" she gasped softly in awe at what she was seeing. "Look out there!"

Amanda then bent down next to Alice and she moved aside so that she saw what she saw. It was a most enormous and just as beautiful garden with grass greener than she had ever seen, and the biggest, brightest flowers everywhere, and fountains that were spraying cool water into the air.

"Oh, I do wish we could get into this lovely garden," sighed Alice, "and run through those flowers and between those cool fountains. Don't you?"

"Oh yes," said Amanda. "But, like you said before, there is no way we could possibly fit through this tiny door at all."

"Oh, I do wish there was a way we could shrink ourselves down like a telescope," said Alice.

They then stood back up and turned around towards the glass table again, and this time they saw to their surprise a tiny little glass bottle full of a clear liquid with a tag tied around the cork that read, 'Drink Me'.

"Hey, was that here before?" asked Amanda in awe and wonder.

"I don't think so," said Alice thoughtfully. "But it says to drink it... and it doesn't say poison anywhere on it," she added after looking it over carefully, "so I suppose we should and find out what happens to us next."

Alice then opened the bottle and took a short sip from it. "Why, it's delicious!" she said to Amanda. "Just try it."

So then Amanda took a short sip from it as well, and found it was very tasty also. She then handed it back to Alice who took another sip from it, and then handed it again to her to take another sip. They did this a few more times until the bottle was quite empty of its contents.

"Well, is anything happening now?" asked Amanda.

"Not that I can tell," replied Alice. "Maybe it takes a little time to take effect and... Oh wait! I think I feel something strange coming over me!"

"I do too!" exclaimed Amanda.

And just then they both could feel themselves shrinking downward, as the ceiling grew farther away and the floor came up closer towards them. It was a rather frightening experience for them both, but then it stopped almost as soon as it had began.

"Have we stopped shrinking yet?" asked Amanda.

"Why, I believe so," replied Alice. "And look now at us! We're exactly the right size to fit through this door! Come on, let's go!"

"Wait for me!" called out Amanda.

And then together they dashed through the open door.


	3. Chapter 3

Andrew found himself landing with a plop on a large mound of thick hay. He sat up slowly and dizzily, rubbed his eyes and blinked to focus his vision and then looked around at his surroundings. He saw an enormous expanse of a dry prairie all around on every side. The sky overhead was very overcast with thick gray clouds which seemed only to complete the dullness of the scenery.

He looked over behind him at the left side and could see a very small house that was as gray and dull as everything else around here. Then all of a sudden, he heard the 'moo' of a large cow near him and then he suddenly felt the pile of hay he was on top of move and quiver. He looked back around and met with the eyes and nose of a big white and brown spotted cow as it was taking a mouthful of the hay. It then suddenly nudged at him as it took another bite, and he found himself slipping and then sliding down off of the hay bale and landing onto the dusty ground with a thump.

He stood up, dusting himself off, and then he suddenly heard the distinct barking of a small dog coming towards him. A few moments later he saw a very small dog run up to him excitedly. It had thick and shiny black fur and pointed ears, it looked to be a Scottish or Cairn terrier.

He bent down to pet the little dog. "Hey boy," he said. "Where did you come from?"

The little dog barked in reply. Then he suddenly heard the voice of a young girl call out, "Toto! Toto, where did you go!"

He waited a few moments and then from around the corner came a stocky little girl of about his age. She had long brown braided hair and was wearing a faded blue and white checked gingham dress. When the little dog saw her he yipped and yelped excitedly and she bent down and caught him as he leaped up into her arms and licked her face affectionately.

"There you are, Toto," she said. She then noticed Andrew and said, "Oh, hello there. Who are you, and what has brought you here?"

"My name is Andrew Kensley," he replied with uncertainty. "And I don't know how I got here, or even where I am right now."

"I'm Dorothy Gale," she replied, "and you're in Kansas here on the prairie of my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farm."

"Well," he said as he looked around again, "there doesn't seem that much to see around here. Everything is so... gray."

"Yes, I know," said Dorothy with a sigh. "It's always been this way. My Uncle Henry and Aunt Em don't much care for it, either. Uncle Henry says the prairie winds have taken a lot of the joy of living out of him and Aunt Em. Aunt Em says when she first came here she had been as pretty as a picture and that now she looks as gray and careworn as she feels."

"It sounds like you all must live a really hard life out here," said Andrew.

"Yes, we do," replied Dorothy frankly. "We all struggle often to make ends meet, and I'm sure if the crops aren't better this year than they were last, Uncle Henry can't afford it. But then," she added, "we all still have each other and that is what keeps our hearts and our brains going strong, as Uncle Henry and Aunt Em say. And I also have Toto, and we play with each other and he keeps me company all the time. I don't know what I ever would do without him here with me." She then nuzzled her little dog close to her and he licked her cheek again as though he understood exactly what she had said.

"Well, it's good you all appreciate each other," Andrew said. "My family doesn't even notice I'm around. No one, except my grandma ever did, and now she is gone. So I decided to leave my home to live somewhere else far away from them... though this wasn't what I had in mind."

"I can't imagine ever even thinking of leaving here," said Dorothy with much certainty. "And certainly at least not without my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and Toto with me. Even if there are much better places out there."

Andrew was about to reply, when suddenly there came a low whistling of wind from the North, and then a came a fierce gust of wind from the South. Then dust and old leaves and loose hay began blowing all around them.

"Now what is happening?" asked Andrew fearfully.

"I'd hate to say it," replied Dorothy, "but I think it's..."

She got no further as just then the wind picked up even more. Then they saw an elderly man with a gray beard, who was Dorothy's Uncle Henry running up towards the house very frantically.

"There's a cyclone coming!" he called out anxiously. "All head toward the cellar!"

Then Toto gave a yelp of terror and leaped out of Dorothy's arms and ran towards the house, barking all the while. Dorothy at once hurried after him and Andrew rushed after Dorothy.

The wind picked up even stronger than ever before as Andrew reached the farmhouse and saw Dorothy running up to get Toto who had dashed under her bed in his fear. He saw her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry opening the cellar door in the floor and begin climbing down the ladder.

"Dorothy, hurry!" called out Aunt Em.

Andrew and Dorothy both hurried toward the cellar, when then all of a sudden they both felt a heavy jolting against the house alongside a great roar of the wind, and they both were knocked down onto the floor quite suddenly. Then, before they could get up again, they suddenly felt the house shake and then lifting up from the ground as though it were being picked up in a giant hand.

"Dorothy!" they heard the voices of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry calling out from below them.

The house seemed to be rising higher and higher up into the air until it stopped at what must have been the very top of the cyclone. The house continued to rock back and forth steadily like a boat on rough seas. Toto barked and yipped excitedly as he ran around frantically everywhere in the one-room house. Suddenly he got too close to the open cellar door and fell through it.

"Toto! No!" wailed Dorothy. "Now, I've lost him!"

"No, wait! Look!" exclaimed Andrew as he peered over the edge of the cellar door. "He's floating up here in the center of the cyclone."

And so then Dorothy and Andrew both reached down as far as they could through the door and each caught Toto by an ear and pulled him up and back into the house. Then Dorothy quickly closed the door to keep any more accidents from happening. Then she sat huddled in a corner and trembling as much as the house was in fear and trepidation and holding Toto so tightly.

"Are you all right, Dorothy," asked Andrew with concern.

"No, I don't think I am," she replied. "This cyclone is taking us far away to who knows where, and who knows what will happen to us when we land.

They waited a while longer, and then suddenly they felt themselves falling with the house downward, further and further.

"This is it!" exclaimed Andrew. Then Dorothy impulsively threw her arms around him and clung tightly to him as they waited with bated breath for the end.

Then they heard a heavy thumping, and at the same time they felt another great jolting of the house as it touched the ground again and they were both once again knocked down backwards.

They laid there on the floor breathing heavily for a few moments. Then Andrew said, "I think we're all right now. We're still alive, anyway."

"I wonder where we are now," said Dorothy as she stood up slowly and gathered Toto in her arms again.

Andrew followed her to the door and watched as she slowly, cautiously opened it, with bright sunlight filling the room as she did so. Then they both gave soft gasps of surprise at the scenery stretched out before them when they stepped outside.

"What is this place?" asked Andrew unthinkingly.

"I... I don't know," replied Dorothy. "But I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore now."

"So do I," agreed Andrew.

All around them they saw luscious green hills with flowers of every kind and description decorating them, and trees dotting the landscape that bore ripe fruits that scented the air and had birds on their branches humming and twittering cheerily in their sweet voices. A little way off there was a long brook with the clearest of water imaginable flowing gracefully through it.

"Look!" said Andrew, getting Dorothy's attention to what he saw. "Some strange people are coming up to us."

There were three very short elderly looking men, only as tall as they were, two had beards and they all were similarly dressed in blue clothing with dark blue boots and pointed hats with silver bells around them which jingled as they moved. With them there was a somewhat taller old woman wearing a pure white gown and a matching pointed hat. They were all looking at them with very happy and welcoming smiles.

The old woman stepped forward and made a short curtsy as the three short men took off their hats and bowed. The she said, "We welcome you to our land, most noble sorcerer and sorceress, and are very grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East and thus setting the munchkins free from her bondage."

Andrew and Dorothy looked puzzled at them. "What are you talking about?" asked Andrew.

"We haven't killed anything," added Dorothy.

"Your house did, anyway," replied the old woman, "and that's the same thing. There you see, are her two feet sticking out from under it."

They both looked and they saw two feet shod in silver shoes sticking out from under a corner of the house.

"Oh dear me!" exclaimed Dorothy in horror. "The house must have fallen on her!"

"We're very sorry about that," added Andrew. "We never meant for it to."

"Well, whether you did or not, what is done has been done," said the old woman smiling. "And it was a very good thing to be done also, for she was the Wicked Witch of the East as I mentioned, and had been holding the Munchkins, the people who live in this land of the East, in slavery for many years, until now, thanks to the two of you."

"So these are Munchkins," said Dorothy looking at the three little men. "And who are you, may I ask?"

"I am a friend of theirs," she replied, "I am Locasta, the Good Witch of the North, which is the Land of the Gilikins."

Dorothy looked once again very confused. "But I thought there were no more witches alive anymore."

"Where do you come from, might I ask?" inquired Locasta.

"We came from Kansas," replied Dorothy.

"And where is that?" asked the Good Witch.

"It's in the United States of America," replied Andrew.

"I see, that explains it then," said the Good Witch. "For this is the Land of Oz here, and it is cut off from the rest of the world, and that is why there are still witches here, and wizards also."

"Oh," said Dorothy. "Well, your country is very beautiful, indeed. But still I am most anxious to get back to Kansas where my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry live. Can you tell me how to get back, please?"

The Munchkins and the Good Witch all looked puzzled at each other. Then one of the Munckins said, "I fear there may be no way out of Oz. For it is surrounded by a great desert which no one could live to go across. But you will both be most welcome to stay here and live amongst us."

Dorothy at once burst into bitter tears at this. Andrew quickly put his arms around her. And the Good Witch quickly said, "Wait, my dears, no need to fret! For there may still be a way to get you back to your home you call Kansas."

"How?" asked Dorothy calming down.

"The only one who might know of how may be the Great Wizard of Oz himself," replied the Good Witch. "He lives in the City of Emeralds, which can be found by following the Yellow Brick Road. And it is a hard journey to get there as the way is sometimes pleasant and also sometimes dark and dangerous. But I will give you all the protection you need. First I will give you both my kiss."

And so saying, she stepped up to them and gently kissed both Dorothy and Andrew on their foreheads one after the other.

"No one can dare harm anyone who bears the kiss of the Good Witch of the North you see," she explained. "And look," she added, pointing towards the house again where the feet of the Witch of the East used to be and now were gone, leaving behind the silver shoes.

"The sun has dissolved the remains of the Witch of the East," she explained. "So now her silver shoes are yours to have and to wear if either of you desires. They are very powerful, hough I don't know what ways however."

Dorothy went up to the shoes and picked them up and sat down on the ground, taking off her old worn-out brown leather shoes, and put on the silver ones in their place. And she found they fit her as if they had been made just for her.

Andrew and Dorothy then went up to the Good Witch of the North and Andrew said, "Thank you, Good Witch, for your help and instructions."

"My pleasure," she replied with another curtsy. "Goodbye to you dears."

And with that she twirled around on her heel and vanished from sight in the air.


	4. Chapter 4

Alice and Amanda stepped through the little door and into the lovely garden. As soon as they did they heard the door close from behind them. Amanda glanced over her shoulder and was shocked to see no house, or even a door behind them but only the enormous roots of a tree.

"What are we going to do now?" she automatically said half to herself and half to Alice.

"Why, we go explore these beautiful gardens of course!" Alice exclaimed happily.

So then Amanda followed Alice as they began walking through. She looked around at their surroundings and saw long and thick stalks of grass all around them that were all at least three times their size, and here and there were spotted mushrooms that were mostly the size of small houses. A few times she found herself nearly stumbling over the thinly hidden roots of trees that were scattered around them, but were way too high up for them to really notice. After a short while of walking in these peculiar conditions she finally said to Alice,

"You know, I really would like it much better in here if we were only our regular sizes again."

Alice sighed and replied, "And so would I, I'm afraid. I also wish I knew where that White Rabbit had gone to."

Amanda was about to reply that she didn't see what the point of knowing where the White Rabbit had gone was, when she suddenly heard a high voice speak to them.

"He just hopped down the lane ten minutes ago!"

Amanda blinked in surprise as did Alice and they both looked all around them to see where the voice had come from. But all around them all they could see were giant sized flowers standing still between the grass blades.

Just then they heard another more squeaky voice add, "And he went across the lawn five minutes ago, too!"

This time the two girls turned their heads quickly towards the sound of the voice, but still could see no one else with them, other than a large clump of giant daises planted nearby.

Alice then squinted at the daisies near them and took a step closer toward them. "Pardon us, did any of you just speak?" she asked very cautiously.

Amanda frowned and said, "Alice, you're being ridiculous. Flowers can't talk you know."

"But of course we can talk!" said a high and soft voice which belonged to a giant red rose above them.

"If there's anyone worth talking to," added a great tiger-lily next to the rose.

"Or about!" added several daisies in unison.

Amanda stood frozen still with her mouth agape, and Alice also looked as though her breath had been snatched from her. They remained silent like this for a time just looking at the flowers with their petals swaying slightly in the breeze. Then at last Alice spoke in a timid whisper,

"As well as you can," said the Tiger-Lily, "and a great deal louder.

"Why did you not speak from the beginning?" asked Amanda.

"It isn't manners for us to begin, you know," said the Rose, "and I really was wondering when either of you would speak! Said I to myself, their faces have got some sense in them, though they aren't very clever ones. Still you have the right colors, and that goes a long way."

"I don't care about their colors," the Tiger-Lily remarked, "Though if only their petals curled up a little more they would be all right."

Alice frowned at being criticized like this while Amanda exclaimed, "But we aren't flowers like you are!"

"Then you're weeds!" exclaimed a dozen of the daisies all together.

"No, we're not!" Alice replied indignantly. "We're both little girls!"

"Is that a flower?" asked one of the daisies.

"No," said Amanda.

"They're weeds! They're weeds, weeds, weeds, weeds!" all of the daisies began shouting gaily together till the air seemed to be full of their shrill little voices.

"Silence, every one of you!" cried the Tiger-Lily, waving itself passionately from side to side, and trembling with excitement. The daisies though went on and on with themselves. "They know I can't get at them," the Tiger-Lily sighed panting and bending its quivering head toward Alice and Amanda, "or they wouldn't dare to do it!"

"Never mind," Alice said in a soothing tone.

Then Amanda, her ears burning from the daisies noisiness and her cheeks burning with fury, bent down next to the daisies, and said heatedly, "If you don't shut up this instant, Alice and I will pick each one of you!"

Then all of the daisies fell instantly silent, and their pink petals turned to white.

"That's right!" said the Tiger-Lily. "The daisies are worst of all. When one speaks, they all begin together, and its enough to make one wither to hear the way they go on!"

"How is it you all can talk so well?" Alice said trying to lighten their mood. "I've been in many gardens before, but none of the flowers could talk."

"Feel of the ground,"said the Tiger-Lily, "it is very hard, and that is why. In most gardens, they make the beds too soft – so that the flowers are always asleep."

"That really makes sense," said Amanda. "Though how you are all able to grow up and out of the hard ground is something I've always wondered about myself."

"How we grow out of our seeds is all a matter of simple confidence," replied the Rose. "We just let the rains waters and the sun's beams nourish our roots and then we do the rest all ourselves."

"Oh, I see," said Amanda. "You all must be very strong creatures to do that. But don't you ever get frightened of being out here all alone without anyone to protect you?"

"No, really," replied the Rose, "I myself never have to fear of anyone coming to close to me as I am very prickly you know."

"And we have the tree up there with it's bark that protects us all," added the Tiger-Lily.

"What could it do?" asked Alice in confusion.

"It could bark, of course!" replied the Tiger-Lily. "That is why it has branches called boughs. It says 'Bough-Wough!', didn't you know that?"

"I never thought of that," said Alice.

"It's my opinion that you never think at all!" said the Rose in a rather severe tone.

"Are there any other things around here who can also speak?" Alice inquired, choosing to ignore the Rose's previous statement.

"The only ones who can that we have seen are the insects," replied the Rose. "There's the rocking-horse-fly, the snap-dragon-fly, and the bread-and butter-flies... Oh, and of course there is that old caterpillar who sits on the mushrooms day after day all the day long, and smoking his hookah."

"I think I'd like to meet this caterpillar," said Amanda.

"So would I," agreed Alice. "And, by the way, where did you say you saw the White Rabbit hop a while ago?"

"He went down the West path five minutes ago!" exclaimed a purple pansy.

"No, no! He went down the East path four minutes ago!" exclaimed another pansy.

The Rose sighed heavily and said, "Those pansies always forget everything almost at once. They'd even forget their petals if they weren't so attached to them."

Alice sighed as well and said, "Well, never mind. We must be on our way now. It's been a pleasure talking to you all."

So then Alice and Amanda turned and went on their way through the garden. They hadn't gone very far when they came across wisps of smoke in the air near them. Curiously, they followed the smoke in the direction it came from and the further they went the thicker it became. Then at last they came upon a large red and white spotted mushroom on which there was a blue caterpillar sitting on and smoking on a hookah.

"This must be the caterpillar that the flowers mentioned about," said Amanda to Alice.

"Yes, it must be," said Alice. "I wonder if he might have seen where the White Rabbit went to."

Amanda then followed behind Alice as she hurried up to the mushroom. Once they were at the edge of it they looked at the caterpillar sitting with its six arms folded on its slim body with its eyes half closed as it smoked on the hookah, and taking no notice of them at all.

Then suddenly Amanda coughed audibly from the thick smoke around them. And then the caterpillar's eyes popped open and he looked at the two girls curiously. Then he took the hookah out of his mouth and said in a soft and sleepy sounding voice,

"Who are you?"

"I'm Amanda McNicolson," replied Amanda.

"And I'm Alice Liddel,"said Alice, "at least I was when I woke up this morning.. and yet I seem to have changed since then."

"Why?" asked the Caterpillar slowly.

"Well, changing from one size to another in one day is very confusing," explained Alice.

"It isn't," said the Caterpillar.

"Well, maybe you don't think so now," said Alice, "but when you someday turn into a cocoon, and then into a butterfly, you'll feel a little strange then, won't you?"

"Not a bit," replied the Caterpillar very calmly.

"That is something I have always wondered about," said Amanda thoughtfully. "I mean, how do you caterpillars always change so easily into cocoons, and then into butterflies?"

"We just will ourselves into transforming into our desire to be born anew as a butterfly or a moth, whichever we desire to be," replied the Caterpillar before taking a long drag on its hookah again. "And then all the rest is done by the magic of nature."

"Oh, I see," said Amanda. She then coughed again and tried to clear away some of the smoke. "And, don't you know that smoking is bad for your health?" she inquired.

The Caterpillar simply shook his head to this, and then continued to smoke away at the hookah.

Alice then coughed herself and said to Amanda, "Let us go now, we may find better advice elsewhere from here."

They then started to turn around to leave when the Caterpillar exclaimed, "Wait! I have something very important to tell you!"

So they turned around and looked at him questioningly. "What is it?" asked Alice a bit impatiently.

The Caterpillar took a long slow drag on his hookah again and then said slowly and evenly, "So you think you've changed, do you? What do you want to be?"

"Well, we would both like to a be a little larger, you see," said Amanda.

"Why?" asked the Caterpillar.

"Well, being only three inches high is such a wretched height to be, don't you see?" Alice replied hastily.

"It is a very good height indeed! I am exactly three inches!" the Caterpillar snapped angrily at them as it stood up as straight as it could on the mushroom to show its full height.

"But we're not used to it!" Alice and Amanda cried out in unison.

The Caterpillar settled itself down slowly again onto the mushroom and said, "You'll get used to it in time." He then took a drag on his hookah once again. Then after a long moment he spoke again as he let the smoke out of his mouth, "One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter."

"One side of what?" asked Alice in confusion.

"The other side of what?" asked Amanda, equally confused.

"Of the mushroom," replied the Caterpillar simply. Then he slithered down from the mushroom and began crawling away.

They watched the Caterpillar go for a moment, and then they each took a large chunk out of either side of the mushroom. Alice took from the left, Amanda took from the right.

"And now which is which?" Alice said as she looked at the pieces in great confusion and dismay.

"Well..." said Amanda thoughtfully, "I know left usually comes before right and so that should mean that the left piece will make us taller, and the right piece should make us shorter. I hope that's how it goes at least."

"Well, we never know until we try it out, I suppose," Alice said logically.

So then Alice broke off a piece from her chunk of the mushroom and handed it to Amanda. They then both bit into it at the same time.

Then all at once they felt their stomachs lurch as they instantly saw the mushroom and the grass around it falling away from them almost faster than they could blink. Then as soon as their growing had started it abruptly stopped and they were once again their regular heights.

"There, that's much better now," said Alice with much satisfaction.

"Yeah," said Amanda. "But where do we go now?"

They then suddenly heard a new voice coming from behind them speak, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where -" Alice began to say while looking at Amanda. She then blinked and turned around swiftly as did Amanda and they both saw to their amazement, a large purple and white striped cat curled up on a tree branch in front of them. It's eyes were big, round, and yellow, and it was grinning at them in a most unusual way for most other cats.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the cat.

"So long as we get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

"Why are you grinning at us like that?" asked Amanda feeling rather ill at ease.

"I am a Chesire Cat," replied the Cat.

"I didn't know Chesire Cats could grin," said Amanda.

"Well, you don't know much," said the Cat, grinning wider than ever before.

"Chesire Puss," Alice said quickly changing the subject, "Can you tell us what sort of people live around here?"

"It that direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw, "lives a Hatter, and in that direction," it added waving the left paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like. They're both mad, by the way."

"But we don't want to go among mad people!" Alice exclaimed.

"Oh, you can't help that, said the Cat. "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know we're mad?" asked Amanda.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

Then quite suddenly the Chesire Cat began to vanish from sight, bit by bit. First its tail was gone, then its body, then its paws, then its ears, then its head, then only its grin was left which lingered there for a moment before also vanishing from sight.

"I've often seen a cat without a grin," Alice remarked in amazement. "But a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I've ever seen in all my life!"

"Yeah, me too," agreed Amanda. "So who should we go see?"

"Well," Alice said thoughtfully. "Since it is May perhaps the March Hare won't be raving mad. So let's go to see him first."


	5. Chapter 5

Andrew and Dorothy had made preparations for their long journey to the Emerald City. They had packed a basket full of bread and fruits and then started off down the Yellow Brick Road. They passed by many houses in the Munchkin villages, and many of the Munchkins who lived in them would wave and smile to them from their windows, or come outside of their doors and watch them as they walked by. The further they went on the fewer the houses became until they only came by a few farmhouses now and then.

After they had gone on for several miles or so, Andrew said to Dorothy, "We've been walking almost all day long and I'm tired now. Can't we stop to rest for a while?"

"I suppose we could," said Dorothy wearily. "I'm tired out myself."

So then they stopped by the very next farmhouse they came to at which they found a low fence around a great cornfield. They each sat down on the fence in front of the cornfield, and in the very center of it amidst the golden corn husks was a scarecrow stuck on a long pole. It was dressed in worn and faded blue clothes that they had found on most of the Munchkins around with bits of straw sticking out of them in places. Its head was a round cloth sack with a face painted onto it.

Dorothy leaned her hand on her chin and gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow. Andrew took notice of this and said, "Why are you interested that guy up there for? He's just a stuffed dummy, isn't he?"

"I know," said Dorothy. "But there's something about him I kind of like. I mean, he does look much nicer than any of the scarecrows I've seen before from where I come from."

Andrew was about to reply that this was the only scarecrow he had ever seen, when all of a sudden he heard a rather husky sounding voice say, "Thank you," which quite startled him and Dorothy also. They both sat upright and looked all around them but could see no other person around them anywhere. In fact, the only one nearest to them was the scarecrow.

Andrew and Dorothy looked back at the scarecrow and stared at it questioningly for a moment. Then they suddenly saw one of its slowly wink at them, and then they both could have sworn they saw the ends of its painted mouth curve upward in a slightly brighter smile.

Dorothy gasped softly and said to Andrew, "This scarecrow seems... to be alive somehow."

Just then the scarecrow nodded its head to them and then said, "Why, yes, I suppose I am. I'm pleased to meet you both. How do you do?"

Dorothy looked a bit spooked for a moment, and then she slowly began to smile as she slid off of the bench and stepped into the cornfield, followed by Andrew shortly afterward, and replied, "We're pretty well, thank you. How do you do?"

"I'm not feeling well," replied the Scarecrow rather sadly, "for it is very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows."

"Can't you get down?" asked Dorothy.

"No, for this pole is stuck up my back," the Scarecrow replied, "if you will please take away the pole I shall be greatly obliged to you."

So Dorothy and Andrew came up to the Scarecrow in the center of the cornfield, and Dorothy reached up both her arms as far as she could and picked the Scarecrow off of the pole gently and then carefully set him down on the ground beside of them.

"Thank you very much," the Scarecrow said to them when he had been set down. "I feel like a new man!"

"You're welcome," said Dorothy smiling.

"I guess it had to have been a real pain to have that old pole up your back all the time, wasn't it?" said Andrew.

"Yes, it was," said the Scarecrow. "And I know of no other worse pain, or I could tell you of it."

Then Andrew looked as if he suddenly realized something. "But won't the farmer who lives here be upset that we took you down from where he put you?"

"No, I doubt it, really," replied the Scarecrow somberly. "For I was never of much use to him anyway."

"What do you mean?" asked Dorothy. "Isn't it your job to be on that pole to frighten away the crows who come to eat the corn around here that the farmer had planted?"

"Well, yes, it is," replied the Scarecrow even more somberly.

"Then I'm afraid I don't understand what is wrong with you," said Dorothy.

"That's the whole problem," the Scarecrow said with a groan, "neither do I. And I can never understand it either. You see I have no brains in my head, only straw."

"But how can that be?" asked Andrew very puzzled. "I thought everyone had a brain."

"Well, unfortunately, I do not," replied the Scarecrow. "And that is why I cannot scare away any crows at all, and am no use for the farmer who made me to do so."

"Oh," said Dorothy. "I'm awfully sorry for you."

"So am I," added Andrew. "Maybe if you come along with us to the Emerald City the Wizard of Oz who lives there will give you some brains."

"We're on our way to see the Wizard now," added Dorothy, "so he can help us get back home. I'm sure it would be just as easy for him to give you some brains. And if he doesn't, then you'll be no worse off than you are now, you know."

"That is quite true," agreed the Scarecrow. "So I see I have nothing at all to lose in joining you. I will come with you, though I don't know how useful I will be on your journey as I am such a brainless fool after all."

So then Dorothy and Andrew set off down the Yellow Brick Road once again with their new companion. Toto didn't seem to much like the Scarecrow at first as he kept sniffing around at the Scarecrow's feet and occasionally growling.

"Don't mind Toto," Dorothy said to their new friend. "He never bites."

"Oh, I'm not afraid," replied the Scarecrow. "He can't hurt the straw. Do let me carry that basket for you. I shall not mind it, for I can't get tired. I'll tell you a secret," he added as they walked along. "There is only one thing in the world I am afraid of."

"What is that?" asked Dorothy. "The Munchkin farmer who made you?"

"No," answered the Scarecrow. "It's a lighted match."

"No one can blame you for being afraid of those," said Andrew.

They walked on together for a while and they eventually entered into a dense forest. They stayed close together and walked on in silence, listening for any sounds that might be of a warning to them. Then all of a sudden they heard something that sounded like a creaking groan coming from somewhere near them.

They all stopped short and stood stiff. Dorothy shivered a little and said, "What was that?"

"I have no idea," replied the Scarecrow. "But we can go and find out."

Just then they heard the same noise yet again. They started off in the direction they thought they heard it coming from. Soon they spotted something in-between the trees that seemed to be shining in the late afternoon sunlight. Andrew and Dorothy ran up to the place with the Scarecrow stumbling behind them, and then they all stopped short again at what they saw.

One of the trees had been partly chopped through, and standing right beside it they saw a man made entirely of tin, standing perfectly still and motionless with an uplifted axe in his hands just as stiff as the rest of him.

Dorothy gave a soft gasp and said, "Why, it's a man made of tin! I have never seen such a thing before in my life!"

"Maybe it's an old robot someone built to chop wood for them that broke down, or something," Andrew suggested thoughtfully.

"What in the world is a robot?" inquired the Scarecrow curiously.

Dorothy went up slowly to the man made of tin to get a closer look at him. As Andrew watched he could have sworn he saw the eyes of the tin man slowly move towards Dorothy and look at her in an almost imploring sort of way. Then Dorothy slowly reached up and lightly touched one of the tin cheeks, then drew back with a gasp of surprise.

"What is it?" asked Andrew.

"His cheek... it's wet!" Dorothy replied in astonishment. "He's been crying."

"Then he's alive... just like the Scarecrow is!" gasped Andrew in realization.

Just then they heard another creaking groan coming from the man of tin. Dorothy turned back to him and asked timidly, "Did you just speak?"

Then the tin man's jaws seemed to move just a few centimeters apart as he seemed to be struggling to speak. "Yes, I did," he said in a very creaky and rusty voice. "I've been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me."

As he spoke they saw a very clear and fresh tear slide out from his left tin eyelids and trickle down his cheek. Dorothy promptly wiped away the tear and said, "How can we help you?"

"You could get an oilcan from my cottage in the glen and oil my joints," replied the Tin Man stuggling more than ever to speak clearly.

So then without another moment, Dorothy and Andrew and the Scarecrow hurried into the glen in the woods where they found quaint little cottage. They entered it and found an oilcan on a shelf which they got and brought back to the Tin Man. Then without hesitation, Dorothy carefully applied a few drops of oil to his jaws so that after he had flexed them together for a moment he could speak much more clearly.

"Oh, thank you ever so much!" he exclaimed in sheer gratitude. "Now, if you please, oil my neck now."

So then Dorothy oiled his neck, and as it was quite badly rusted the Scarecrow and Andrew moved it gently from side to side until the tin man could move it freely on his own. After this this they applied the oil to the joints in his arms, and then after they had moved them a bit the Tin Man was able to set down the axe he was holding. He gave a great sigh of relief.

"Oh, what a relief this feels to be able to put down my axe at last after having held it up for such a long time!" he exclaimed. "Now if you will please just oil the joints in my legs I shall be all right once more."

So they did this, and after moving them back and forth for a bit the Tin Woodman was walking freely and moving all his joints with ease. He seemed to be a great deal happier now also.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you all!" he said over and over again. "I might have stood there forever if you hadn't come along!"

"Well, what happened to you, anyway?" asked Andrew.

"Well, about a year ago, I was chopping this tree right here," the Tin Woodman explained, indicating the partially chopped tree. "When suddenly it began to rain, and right in the middle of a chop, I rusted solid, and had been that way ever since."

"Oh, I see," said the Scarecrow. "But why didn't you think to run back to your cottage when it started to rain so you wouldn't be rusted?"

The Tin Woodman now looked extremely unhappy. "I suppose I just didn't care anymore about what happened to me," he admitted miserably. "You see, I have no heart inside of me. All I have is emptiness inside. So therefore I cannot care about anything. And it is such a dreadfully unhappy thing to know for a fact that one is without a heart to guide through life, you see."

As he spoke great tears came to his eyes again and started to trickle down his cheeks. Dorothy at once went up to him and gave him a handkerchief which she took from her pocket and said, "Don''t cry, you can come along with us to see the Wizard of Oz, and he'll be sure to give you heart."

"Yeah," said Andrew. "We're on our way there now. Dorothy wants to ask the Wizard to send her home to Kansas, and our Scarecrow friend wants him to put a few brains in his head of straw."

The Tin Woodman dried his eyes and smiled a little as he said, "You all have such kind hearts, just like I wish I could have. So I shall come with you and hopefully get a heart when our journey is through."

"Come along," said the Scarecrow heartily. "We'll be pleased to have your company."

So then the Tin Woodman shouldered his axe, and they all set off down the Yellow Brick Road once again toward their destination.

They walked through the forest as it grew darker and darker. When all around them they could see little light between the thick trees and they heard a low growl coming from somewhere off in the distance that suggested there were wild animals dwelling in these parts Dorothy and Andrew felt their hearts beat fast with fear as they stood by their companions.

"How long will it be before we are out of the forest?" Dorothy asked the Tin Woodman.

"I really don't know," admitted the Tin Woodman. "But we should not be afraid. For as long as I have my oilcan I feel safe, and the Scarecrow is safe as long as he has his straw in him. And you two have the mark of the Good Witch of the North's kiss on both of you and shall be safe from much harm with it."

"But what about Toto?" asked Dorothy anxiously. "What will protect him?"

"He has us to protect him if he is in danger," the Tin Woodman assured her gently.

Just as he spoke they heard a terrible come from behind a grove of trees before them. Then the next moment a great lion bounded out in front of them. Dorothy screamed a little and Andrew grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her with him behind a tree. They then watched as the lion with one swift blow of his left paw sent the Scarecrow spinning over and over to the edge of the road, and then he struck the Tin Woodman with his right paw with a loud clang as the Tin Woodman fell over by the side of the road.

Then little Toto ran out in front of the great beast barking like mad and heedless of danger. The Lion began to open its mouth and bare its great teeth at the little dog. Then suddenly, before Andrew could stop her, Dorothy rushed out right in front of the lion and slapped his on his nose as hard as she could while she cried out,

"Don't you dare bite Toto! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, a big beast like you, thinking of biting a poor little dog!"

The Lion made a whimper like a hurt kitten and rubbed his nose. "I didn't bite him," he sniveled.

"No, but you tried to," Dorothy retorted. "You are nothing but a great big coward."

"I know, I've always known!" the Lion wailed.

"But how can you be a coward?" asked Andrew as he came out from behind the tree. "You are a lion, and the lion is the known everywhere as the King of the Beasts, or so I've heard."

"I don't know, I just don't know," wailed the Lion. "I suppose I must have been born that way. Whenever I've met anyone or anything I've always been so scared I could feel my heart pounding within me. But I just roar and frighten them all away from me, as it is all I know to do. If any of the other beasts in the forest ever tried to fight me I would just run away from them myself, but as sson as they hear me roar they all run away themselves and of course I let them go."

"But that isn't right. The King of Beasts shouldn't be a coward," said the Scarecrow.

"I know," said the Lion as he wiped away a tear from his eye with the tip of his tail. "It is my great sorrow, and makes my life so unhappy."

"That's too bad," said the Tin Woodman sympathetically. "I wish there were something we could do for you."

"Maybe there is!" said the Scarecrow brightly. "You could come along with us to the Emerald City to see the Wizard of Oz and he should be able to give you some courage. We're on our way now to get me some brains."

"And me a heart," added the Tin Woodman.

"And to get Dorothy back to Kansas," added Andrew.

"I would really like to come," said the Lion. "My life has been simply unbearable without a bit of courage of my own. But won't you feel degraded to be seen in the company of a cowardly lion like me?"

"No, of course not," said Dorothy soothingly. "You will be very welcome to come with us, you can keep away all of the other wild beasts from us. It seems to me they must be more cowardly than you are, if they let you frighten them away so easily."

"But that doesn't make me any braver though, I'm afraid," said the Lion miserably.

So then they, along with the Lion as their new companion set off once again down the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City.


	6. Chapter 6

Amanda and Alice hadn't gone far down the path the Chesire Cat had pointed out to them before they came in sight of a large house with two very long chimneys on either side that were shaped like ears and the roof was thatched with dark fur.

"This looks like it must be the house where the March Hare lives," Amanda said observantly.

"Indeed it does," agreed Alice. "I do hope he's home, and that he isn't raving mad after all... or else we'll wish we'd gone to the Hatter's instead."

They approached the house and entered into the front yard where they came upon an enormously large tea table set in the center of it and it was scattered rather untidily with immense quantities of tea things. They saw a tall and thin man with a huge purple top hat sitting at the front of the table and beside him there was a dark brown hare as tall as he was, and in-between them there was dormouse that was very large for a dormouse but was squeezed up in-between the other two individuals as they knocked their elbows on either of its sides and spoke loudly and in unison over it.

Alice and Amanda went up to the two chairs nearest to the three figures and took seats in them. "Do you guys mind if we sit here?" asked Amanda uncertainly.

The Hatter and Hare at once stopped jabbering and turned to stare wide-eyed at the two girls as though they were from another planet. Finally the Hatter said, "Mind? What's it in a mind of where you sit?"

"This is your table, isn't it?" asked Alice uneasily.

"Do have some wine!" the March Hare exclaimed suddenly.

"I'm sure we're too young to drink stuff like wine," said Amanda.

"Although I must admit I don't see any wine," added Alice looking around the table.

"That's because there isn't any!" exclaimed the March Hare.

"Then why did you offer I in the first place?" demanded Amanda.

"I agree," said Alice. "That is very rude."

"You're hair wants a cutting," the Hatter said as he pointed directly at Alice.

"You should not make such personal remarks, it's rude also!" Alice said heatedly.

"And your hair may do well with a hat on it," the Hatter added while pointing in Amanda's direction.

Amanda seemed confused about how to take this. "Was that a compliment or an insult?" she asked the Hatter.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" the Hatter asked, completely ignoring Amanda's question.

"I have no idea," said Alice frankly.

"Me neither," added Amanda.

Just then the Mad Hatter took out a big and oddly designed pocket watch. "Two days wrong!" he exclaimed. "I told you not to put butter in it!" he added angrily to the March Hare.

"But it was the best of butter, you know," the March Hare said defensively.

"Yes, but some crumbs must have got into it as well," sighed the Hatter. "I told you not to put it in with the bread knife."

"Do they make any sense to you?" Amanda asked Alice.

"I'm afraid not," Alice replied wearily.

"The Dormouse is asleep again!" the Hatter exclaimed, and he then proceeded to pour hot tea onto its head.

The Dormouse squeaked loudly and its eyes popped wide open as it trembled, and then strangely it began to sing very slowly.

" _Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at! Up above the world you fly! Like a tea-tray in the sky!"_

The Dormouse then laid its head on the table and began snoring softly once again.

"He is always sleeping!" the March Hare exclaimed. "He breathes when he sleeps is the same thing as he sleeps when he breathes!"

"I sang the very thing at the concert last year given by the Queen of Hearts, you know," the Hatter said in a tone of pride. "She called out, 'he is killing the time! Off with his head!'"

Amanda gasped in horror as Alice exclaimed, "How dreadfully savage!"

"Though she was right," the Hatter went on in the same way. "Time hasn't spoken to me since then, and so now every time is tea-time!"

Then the Dormouse began singing in his sleep, repeating just the word "twinkle" over and over again. The Hatter and hare each seized him from either side and began proceeding to stuff him into a very big teapot.

"Put a lid on it, won't you!" the Hatter exclaimed just as the finally squeezed the poor creature into the teapot and capped the top on it.

"Isn't that very uncomfortable for the Dormouse?" asked Amanda with concern.

"Do take some more tea!" exclaimed the March Hare.

"We haven't had any yet," said Alice. "So we can't possibly take more!"

"You mean you can't take less," the Hatter said. "It's very easy to take more than nothing."

"Nobody asked your opinion!" snapped Alice in exasperation.

"Well, who is making personal remarks now!" the Hatter said triumphantly.

Amanda spoke up now. "Well, I don't think -"

"Then you shouldn't talk!" exclaimed the Hatter.

This was finally going too far for both Alice and Amanda. They both stood from their chairs and marched away from the table as fast as they could go.

"Well, that was the stupidest tea party I'd ever been to in all my life!" exclaimed Alice as they walked away from the house.

"Me too!" agreed Amanda. "Though it was also the only tea party I'd ever been to in all my life," she added.

They walked a little further in silence before Amanda turned to Alice and asked, "By the way, do you suppose that riddle could have any answer to it?"

"You mean, 'why is a raven like a writing desk'?" said Alice. "I really don't know. And I doubt if they knew either!"

Amanda was just about to reply they suddenly heard a very soft voice from nearby speak.

"You could make an answer up for it yourselves, you know."

The two girls looked around, and at first could find no source for the voice. Then suddenly Amanda let out a little cry of startled surprise and pointed to the left front of them as she exclaimed to Alice,

"Look! It's... it's a... bug! A very big bug!"

"I am called a gnat if you please," replied the big bug slowly.

There in front of them was a very large gnat, about the size of a prize chicken, standing up on its hind legs and looking at both of them with big and said eyes.

"Hello," said Alice. "I never thought I'd ever see any gnat or insect as big as you!"

"Tell me," said the gnat. "What insects do you like best?"

"I don't like any of them really," said Alice. "Except for the ones that can talk like you though," she added hastily.

"I'm usually afraid of most of them," added Amanda. "Though you seem to be very nice."

"Tell me," said the gnat, "do you like to hear jokes?"

"Yes, I do," said Alice.

"Do you have any?" asked Amanda.

"Just this," the gnat began slowly. "Why do houses have no doors?"

"I don't know," said Alice. "Why do houses have no doors?"

"Because they're red," said the gnat

Alice and Amanda looked at each other with puzzled expressions. The gnat looked extremely disheartened at this.

"I knew you wouldn't laugh," he said, sounding almost on the verge of tears. "No one laughs at insects jokes! We're just not good at them!"

"Oh, but I'm sure some are!" Alice exclaimed hastily. "Please don't be sad."

"Yeah, we're sorry if we hurt you're feelings," added Amanda. "Try telling us another joke. I promise we'll laugh at it."

"All right," said the gnat with a sigh. "Why do rattles argue?"

"I don't know," said Alice. "Why do rattles argue?"

"They don't," replied the gnat.

Alice and Amanda at once burst into laughter. However they couldn't fool the gnat with it.

"You're very kind," he said with tears in his eyes. "But it's no use pretending. I'm just not funny because I am an insect!" He let out a weak sob as the tears fell from his eyes.

Amanda abruptly changed the subject. "Well, you wouldn't by any chance happen to know a way out of these woods, would you?"

The gnat looked up at them sorrowfully and replied, "No, I'm afraid not. However, if you wait here long enough, someone is certain to come by here who can rescue you."

"What do you mean?" asked Amanda. "Who would come by here to rescue us?"

Just then they heard a heavy clomping of hooves coming towards them from behind which was followed by a loud rattling of metal.

"See what I mean?" said the gnat a bit more brightly. "Farewell to you both."

And so saying, the gnat got down on all six of its limbs and crawled away. Alice and Amanda turned around and looked towards the oncoming noise. And they saw a knight in shining pure white armor coming toward them riding on a handsome white horse. Then suddenly the knight tumbled off of his steed and fell to the ground in a clattering heap. Alice and Amanda at once ran up to his side and began to help him up.

"I hope no bones are broken," said Alice.

"No, none to speak of," replied the White Knight as he stood up unevenly. He lifted up hood of his helmet, revealing his face with its long white mustache and gentle blue eyes. "Well, my dears," he said, "You wouldn't care to be rescued, would you? I do it so awfully well, you know?"

"Oh yes! Indeed we would!" exclaimed Alice with much relief.

"If you would please just show us the way out of these woods," added Amanda.

The White Knight smiled and climbed up onto his steed once again. "Then follow my lead, fair maidens!"

So they followed him as he rode on his horse. As they went along the two girls noticed the very many things that were on the horse's back.

"What are all these things for?" asked Amanda.

"These are all my own inventions," said the White Knight proudly. "Here is my box to keep clothes and sandwiches in, I keep it hanging down so that rain doesn't get into it. And here is my mouse-trap to keep mice from crawling up my horse."

He went on like this for a while, and then he and the horse stopped quite suddenly that they both startled the two girls.

"Here we are!" said the White Knight triumphantly. "Here is your way out of these woods."

Alice and Amanda looked around but could see nothing but the biggest tree they ever saw in front of them with a very wide trunk on it.

"Where is the way out exactly?" inquired Amanda.

"It's through the door in this tree," the White Knight explained. "There are of course other ways out, but this is the shortcut."

Alice rubbed her hands against the tree's trunk and found the edges of the door that was in it. "Oh! I see now! Thank you very much, gallant knight!"

The White Knight bowed his head to them, and then turned his steed forward again and rode away.

Alice and Amanda waved to him for a while till he was far from their sight. Then they both took hold of the door in the tree and pulled it wide open. On the other side of the tree they were much astonished by what they saw.

"Why, I do believe everything in there is a shade of purple!" exclaimed Alice in wonder.

"Or at least purplish," added Amanda. "But at least it is another place."

And then they both stepped together through the door in the tree trunk and into their new surroundings.


	7. Chapter 7

Alice and Amanda stepped out of the door of the tree and came out of a door in another tree on the other side. They found themselves in another wood in which everything was tinted a light shade of purple.

Alice looked around and seemed to be disappointed. "Well, I don't believe we are truly out of the woods yet after all!" she exclaimed.

"Well, we are at least in another place," Amanda said observantly. "And I kind of like this one better because purple is my favorite color, and I never saw purple grass and trees before!"

Just then, they heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them which were followed shortly by a soft whistling. They stood still and waited for the source to come to them. Then they saw a boy who looked to be a few years older than them, though wasn't much taller, carrying a hatchet on his shoulder. When he saw them he stopped and looked at them in great curiosity.

"Hello," he said. "What are you two girls doing in these woods all alone? You don't live near here, do you?"

"No, indeed," said Alice. "We just came here, from somewhere else. We don't even know where we are now. Could you please tell us?"

"You're in the Gilikin Country in the Land of Oz," he replied. "My name is Tippertaurius, but you may just call me Tip."

"How do you do?" said Alice. "My name is Alice, and this is my friend Amanda."

"Could you help us find or way out of here?" asked Amanda.

"I was actually on my way out myself," replied Tip. "I was just here cutting some branches. Come with me."

So they followed him and he led them to a wheelbarrow that was filled with branches cut off from old trees, and also a large log was in the middle of them. He took hold of the wheelbarrow and pushed it forward as they followed him out of the woods.

"What exactly are you going to do with all this wood you've cut?" asked Amanda curiously.

"I'm gonna build something," replied Tip.

"What are you going to build?" asked Alice.

"A body," replied Tip, "for a pumpkin I've just carved a face into."

"A jack-o-lantern?" inquired Amanda.

"Yes," replied Tip. "And giving it a body would make it complete for just what I want to do with it."

"And what do you want to do with it?" asked Amanda.

"I want to scare Mombi so that she'll squeal louder than our pig does when I pull her tail," Tip said gleefully.

"Why would you want to scare Mombi?" inquired Alice. "And who is she exactly?"

"She has been my guardian from birth, but she is as mean as a rattlesnake, and in fact she is a witch. She likes to scare me in a lot of ways, so now I've decided its my time to pay her back," Tip replied.

They then left the woods behind them and came out onto a hill on which they saw a cottage with a fence around it. They followed Tip into the yard where he showed them the pumpkin he had carved a face into.

"It looks very well carved," said Alice. "I especially like its smile."

"And it will stand out all the more on him once I have constructed his body," Tip announced proudly.

So then Tip set about making the body from the wood he had gathered. He used the old log as the torso, and then fastened the branches for the arms and legs onto it with wooden pegs he crafted. When he was done he and the girls stood him up and looked up at him in admiration.

"A job well done on him, if I do say so myself," Tip said proudly.

"Oh yes," said Alice. "Now, perhaps if he had some clothes on he would be even better."

"You're right," agreed Tip. "I know just where to get them."

He then went inside the cottage and came out with a set of clothes and a pair of old shoes. Then he and the girls put the red shirt, pink and white spotted vest, and purple trousers and shoes onto the pumpkinhead's body. They then looked at him again with much delight.

"Why, he looks almost like an actual person!" Alice exclaimed in wonder.

"He does at that!" agreed Tip. And so good a man must have a name of his own. So we'll call him Jack Pumpkinhead!"

They then carried the figure they had made to the side of the road and had him lean on a wooden branch.

"Mombi is sure to see him when she comes home," Tip said excitedly. "She left this morning to see Dr. Nikkidik, the Crooked Magician. She should be back any minute now. In fact, I think I hear her coming! Come on, let's hide! Quick!"

So the three of them rushed behind some bushes nearby and peeked out in-between the branches and waited anxiously. Soon they saw a short and bent old hag coming up the path hobbling on a crooked cane. She saw the pumpkinheaded figure by the roadside.

"Good evening, sir!" she said. Then turned swiftly around and staggered backward with a loud cry of fright.

"It worked! I knew it would!" Tip whispered to the girls with a devilish grin.

They then watched as the old hag lifted her cane to the pumpkinhead as if aiming to smash it. But then she stopped and lowered her cane as she seemed to be pondering something. She then searched through a basket she had at her side and then took out a small box from it out of which took a handful of what looked like sparkling dust and threw it onto the pumpkinhead so that it coursed over his entire body.

"What is she doing?" Amanda whispered fearfully.

Then they all watched as Mombi lifted up her left hand and cried out, "Weaugh!" Then raised her right hand and cried out, "Teaugh!" Then extended both hands upward and cried out, "Peaugh!"

Then, much to their astonishment they watched as the pumpkinheaded figure trembled from head to foot, and then straightened and turned towards Mombi, who let out another loud cry of fright at this.

"Don't yell like that!" said the pumpkinhead putting his hands to the sides of his head. "Do you think I'm deaf?"

Mombi now let out a loud cackle of glee and ecstasy. She lifted her walking stick up in the air and began to dance a jig all around the pumpkinhead.

"He lives! He lives!" she exclaimed again and again. "He lives!"

"She's brought Jack Pumpkinhead to life!" said Amanda in a loud whisper.

"She truly has!" Alice said.

Tip then began to laugh out loud, and before either of the girls could stop him it was too late. Mombi heard him. She went up to the bushes and seized Tip by his collar and dragged him out with her towards the cottage.

"You naughty, sneaking, wicked boy!" she shrieked. "I'll teach you to spy on my secrets and to make fun of me!"

"I wasn't making fun of you," said Tip. "I was laughing at old Pumpkinhead! Isn't he a sight?"

"I hope you are not reflecting on my personal appearance," said Jack Pumpkinhead as he was listening to them.

"I'll deal with you later, Pumpkinhead!" snapped Mombi in Jack's direction. "I'll deal with you right away though, Tippertaurius!" she added nastily to the cringing boy beside her.

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Tip fearfully.

Just then Mombi opened the cottage door and then closed almost a soon as when she had pulled tip inside with her.

Amanda and Alice slowly came out of their hiding places. They then crept up to the door and tried to listen to anything happening inside.

"I don't want to be a marble statue!" they heard Tip exclaim.

"That doesn't matter; I want you to be one," they heard Mombi reply evilly.

"But what use will I be then?" asked Tip. "There won't be anyone to work for you."

"I'll make the Pumpkinhead work for me," replied Mombi.

"Why don't you change me into a goat, or a chicken?" he asked anxiously. "You can't do anything with a marble statue."

"Oh yes I can," retorted Mombi. "I'm going to plant a flower garden next spring, and I'll put you in the middle of it, for an ornament. I wonder why I hadn't thought of it before; you've been a bother to me for years."

"Oh no!" gasped Alice.

"We just can't let that happen to him!" exclaimed Amanda.

"But what can we do for him?" inquired Alice.

"We can rescue him," said Amanda.

"But how?" asked Alice.

"We'll have to get him away from Mombi," replied Amanda.

"But won't Mombi easily be able to capture us and then turn us into marble statues as well?" Alice asked fearfully.

"A good point," said Amanda. Then after thinking on it for a moment she said decidedly, "We'll just have to wait until it's dark in a couple hours and then we'll sneak into the house and get Tip out of there without Mombi noticing."

"I truly hope we will be able to," said Alice.

And so they waited the couple hours until the sun had just set behind the clouds and the stars began to come out. Then they crept quietly up to the cottage door and Amanda attempted to open it, only to find it had locked tight.

"The door is locked!" she moaned.

"And with no key or anything to pick the lock with," Alice said miserably.

Amanda then suddenly seem to have had an idea of her own. She looked over at Jack Pumpkinhead, who had been standing silently beside the barn next to them the whole time.

"Yes, we do," she said brightly. "We have Jack over here."

"But how can he help us?" asked Alice.

"Very easily," replied Amanda.

She then went up to Jack, with Alice following, and said, "Jack, we need you to do a little favor for us right now."

"What do you need me for?" asked Jack, sounding very interested.

"Come with us to the door first," replied Amanda.

So he came with them and then she whispered her instructions to him carefully. "Just stick your longest and most pointed finger into this keyhole right here. Good. Now turn it around inside of it. Yes, that's it. Well done! Now, it should be able to open for us, I hope."

She then tried the door again, and this time found to her immense relief and satisfaction that it opened quite easily.

The three of them then stepped cautiously into the cottage. They looked around for a moment and quickly spotted Tip sitting in a corner of the room tied up into a chair with his arms behind its back. There was a burning candle on a table beside him along with a glass vial that was emitting a series of strong and nauseating fumes from it. When Tip saw them come in his eyes lit up with relief a moment and then with worry.

"It's all right Tip. It's us," whispered Amanda. "We're here to get you out of this mess."

"Be quick," he whispered back. "Mombi is just now asleep."

So they went behind him and silently and carefully untied his binding to the wooden chair behind him. And then Amanda took his hand and the four of them rushed out of the cottage door and closed it silently behind them again.

Then, with Amanda clutching Tip's hand, and Alice clutching onto Jack's, they all hurried away down the path away from the cottage that was lit by the light of the full moon.

When they had run about a mile or so away, they slowed down to catch their breaths. Tip turned to the two girls and said very gratefully,

"I can't thank you enough, my friends! You saved my life. Mombi was planning to turn me into a marble statue in the morning. That bad smelling stuff next to me was the potion she had made for me to drink to become such, and so she had tied me up so I wouldn't escape. I thought I was a goner, I just didn't think about you two coming to my rescue."

"Well, it wasn't us alone who rescued you," replied Amanda. "We also had a bit of help from your creation, Jack Pumpkinhead here. He poked his longest finger into the lock to open the door so we could get in to save you."

"I am your creation?" Jack asked Tip in amazement.

"Why, yes, you are in fact," replied Tip. "Because I built you all on my own by hand and put you together, carved your face, and dressed you also."

"Why, then you must be my dear, dear father!"

"Must I?" asked Tip rather taken aback.

Amanda and Alice both seemed to be struggling to contain their inner laughter. Amanda spoke first saying, "Well, you know Tip he does have a point you know."

"Yes, indeed," agreed Alice. "After all, when any creature is first born the very first thing it sees is its parent. So, congratulations to you on becoming such a young father."

Even in the pale light of only the moon they could see exactly how brightly Tip was blushing at this.

"Well, now I owe you obedience, and you owe me support, right?" said Jack Pumpkinhead.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Tip said resignedly. "Now, let's go find a place to rest in safety. I'm getting tired."

And so they did. The three children laid down in a row from each other while Jack remained standing.

"I don't feel the least bit tired," he said in confusion. "Is that wrong for me?"

"No, not for you at all," replied Tip. "You're just made that way. But that's very well, because you can stay up and keep watch over us through the night. Be sure to wake us if you see anyone at all coming along this way."

"Very well, dear father," replied Jack.


	8. Chapter 8

arly the next morning the three children awakened from their slumber and found Jack Pumpkinhead still was still standing up beside them and smiling as broadly as ever. They all stood up and Tip took Jack by the hand once again.

"Come on now," he said to him. "We must keep moving on."

"Where are we going, dear father?" asked Jack.

"You'll know as soon as we do," Tip replied briskly.

So then they all went forth once again. They walked along all morning long at a steady pace, and by the afternoon they were becoming quite hot and tired and slowed their pace.

Tip turned to Jack Pumpkinhead beside him. "Are you tired?" he asked him.

"No, indeed," he replied. "Though it is sure that the joints in my legs will wear out if I keep on walking."

"That is true, unfortunately," said Tip regretfully. "If I had known you were going to be brought to life before I made you, I would have made you much more liable joints."

"Why don't you sit down to rest your joints?" suggested Amanda. "In fact, why don't we all sit down now and take a break?"

So then they all stopped and Alice and Amanda sat down on an old log while Tip sat down on a tree stump and Jack Pumpkinhead sat down on a wooden sawhorse next to them.

"What is this thing that I am sitting on, dear father?" asked Jack with curiosity.

"It's called a sawhorse," replied Tip. "It's used to saw logs on."

"Why, it looks almost just like a real live horse does, to me!" said Alice in astonishment.

"Why so it does in fact," said Tip in wonder at this discovery.

"If only if it were a real horse to be ridden on," said Amanda. "Then we could have something to carry us on our journey to wherever we are going to. And it would be especially useful for Jack to ride on it."

"Why so it would," said Tip thoughtfully. "I wonder... maybe it can be brought to life!"

"But how could it be?" said Alice with a laugh. "It's made of wood."

"So am I," said Jack.

"So you are," said Amanda. "If only we had the stuff that Mombi used to bring Jack alive, then we could bring this sawhorse alive as well."

"Well, we can!" exclaimed Tip. "Because I have it with me, right here."

He reached into his jacket pocket and took out the very same box that Mombi had previously had which contained the magic dust that she used to bring Jack alive with.

Alice and Amanda stared at Tip in amazement. "How did you get hold of it? I thought Mombi had it," said Amanda.

"She did," said Tip. "But it fell out of her basket and I picked it up when she wasn't looking and hid it from her."

"Well, what exactly is it?" asked Alice.

Tip looked at the label on the box and read the description to them aloud. "Dr. Nikidik's Powder of Life. Will bring any inanimate object fully alive when used correctly. Use with care."

"Powder of Life!" exclaimed Amanda. "That explains everything. Let's try it out on the Sawhorse right away!"

"You do remember the magic words that Mombi spoke when she brought Jack alive, don't you Tip?" asked Alice.

"I'm sure I do," said Tip.

He then went up to the Sawhorse which Jack was sitting on and sprinkled some of the powder into his hand and flung it onto the sawhorse. Then he lifted up his left hand and cried out, "Weaugh!"

"What does that mean, dear father?" asked Jack curiously.

"I don't know!" said Tip. Then he lifted up his right hand and cried out, "Teaugh!"

"What does that mean?" Jack asked again.

"It means you must keep quiet!" Alice said sharply.

"I'm learning so much," said Jack.

Then Tip raised up both his hands at the sawhorse and cried out, "Peaugh!"

Then, all once, the Sawhorse did indeed come to life. It trembled with Jack on its back and blinked its knotted eyes rapidly and then kicked out its hind legs and then its forelegs and with a small jump it began to run all around in the area around them. Jack clutched at the head of the Sawhorse with one hand and at his own head with the other as the Sawhorse was running exactly like a completely wild steed.

"It worked! It really worked! It lives!" exclaimed Alice as she clapped her hands together at their success.

"It worked a little too well, though!" added Amanda as she watched the Sawhorse running around at a dizzying pace with Jack holding on for dear life to it.

"Whoa there!" exclaimed Tip, trying to get the Sawhorse to stop. "Whoa I say! Whoa!"

But the Sawhorse paid him no mind and did not even slow down. It ran around tirelessly with Jack unable to safely get off of it.

"Help me! Dear father! Help me!" cried Jack helplessly.

It was, coincidentally at this moment, however that the Sawhorse diverged his direction and its left foreleg stumbled into a gopher hole that was in its way. It bucked in surprise and alarm and its leg snapped off short.

"It's stopped! Finally! It was making me so dizzy!" exclaimed Alice in relief.

"But look!" exclaimed Amanda in dismay. "It's broken one of its legs now and it won't be able to walk anymore!"

"Is this bad?" asked Jack.

"I'm afraid it really is," replied Tip sadly. "We need this Sawhorse for you to ride on."

"And, to make matters worse," added Amanda, "there is no wood around here that can be used to make a new leg for the Sawhorse, either."

"So what can we do now?" asked Alice in great despair.

"Well," said Tip as he tried to think of a solution. "Maybe we could all try carrying the Sawhorse for a while until we can find something to replace his leg with."

"Doesn't look rather heavy for us all to carry though?" asked Alice looking sadly at the Sawhorse who was still bent down on one side with its leg stuck in the gopher hole.

"Well," said Tip, "maybe we could -"

"Oh my! Look there!" exclaimed Alice all of a sudden.

"What! What is it?" asked Tip much startled.

"Look! There is someone coming up here from down the road!" Alice exclaimed as she pointed straight ahead of them.

They all looked in the direction, and they did in fact see a figure of someone coming up to them. It moved along in a strange sideways motion.

"Someone... or maybe something is coming up here," said Tip.

"Let's get his attention!" said Amanda brightly. "Maybe he can help us out!"

So the three of them all jumped up and down and waved their arms up in the air as they called out "Over here! Come to us!" to whoever or whatever was coming up towards them.

The thing that they saw came right up to them with soundless footsteps. Then when it stood before them they were all very much shocked at what it actually was.

"Why, it's a bug!" Tip said loudly. "A huge bug!"

It was indeed such. It had antennae sticking out at either side of its head and on the end of its nose also, and its body was large and round shaped like a beetle's, and its limbs were long and wiry and seemed to be very flexible. It was also dressed in very stylish clothes and had a tall old-fashioned hat on its head in between its antennae.

The insectlike creature smiled at them as it began to laugh a very merry and lighthearted sounding chuckle at Tip's exclaimation.

"You are unquestionably right, young sir!" he said jovially. "Yes, I am a bug, and very proud of it if I do say so myself. Permit me to present to you my card."

He then took from his vest pocket a small square of white cardboard which he extended to Tip who accepted it and read aloud with his eyes wide and round,

"Mr. H.M. Wogglebug T.E."

"Dear me!" gasped Alice.

"So you're a... wogglebug?" inquired Amanda.

"Yes, indeed," said the Wogglebug. "And the initials at the beginning of my name mean that I am Highly Magnified, and indeed am I not several thousand times larger than any wogglebug you ever saw before?"

"You are indeed!" replied Tip.

"And you're also the only wogglebug I ever saw," added Amanda.

"Would it be proper for us to ask also what the T.E. at the end of your name stands for?" inquired Alice.

The Wogglebug smiled proudly and replied, "Those letters express my degree. To be more explicit, the initials mean that I am Thoroughly Educated!"

"Oh my!" gasped Alice. "You must be so proud. Education is a thing to be proud of, after all."

"Yes, indeed it is, and yes, indeed I am," replied the Wogglebug. "And, in fact, I am just now on my way to the Emerald City to make a place for myself at the capitol of society there! I must say, it is a pleasure for me to meet all of you now. But tell me, what has brought you all here?"

"Well," said Amanda. "I'm afraid me and Alice hardly know how we got to this land as we just came from another one that we were led into from another one."

"And as for me and Jack Pumpkinhead you see there," added Tip solemnly. "We're running away from a witch named Mombi who wants to turn me into a marble statue, which she would have done by now if Alice and Amanda hadn't come to my rescue when they did."

"Oh, you poor children!" exclaimed the Wogglebug in sympathy. "You're lost without a destination to get to, and you my boy are in the most terrible trouble of all! Well, I'll tell you what to do. You just come along with me to the Emerald City and there I shall make sure that you two girls are returned to your homes safely, and that you young lad are put out of harm in the way of this witch called Mombi. So now let us bend our steps in the destination, shall we?"

"Thank you, Mr. Wogglebug," said Alice. "We really appreciate your kind help to us. But you see, our Sawhorse here has just broken a leg and can't walk now."

"And there's no wood around here to make him a new one from," added Amanda.

"And we can't leave the Sawhorse behind, because Jack Pumpkinhead is so stiff in his joints that he has to ride it," Tip finished.

"Oh, how very unfortunate for all of you!" exclaimed the Wogglebug. Then he looked carefully at Jack Pumpkinhead on top of the Sawhorse and then a bright smile came to his features. "If the Pumpkinhead is to ride, why not use one of his legs to make a leg for the horse that carries him? I judge that both are made of wood?"

"Oh! Of course! Why didn't any of us think of that?" said Alice in great relief. "It's the very solution we need."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Wogglebug," said Amanda. "You've saved us all."

"You're welcome," said the Wogglebug smiling. "It all comes naturally when one happens to be thoroughly educated."

And so then they took the Sawhorse's broken leg out of the hole and detached it from him. Then after Tip had carefully detached one of Jack's legs he attached it into the hole left in the Sawhorse from where its old leg had been. The Sawhorse then limped about unsteadily for a few moments before it had gotten more used to its new limb. Then once it seemed to be all right again the three children along with the Wogglebug started off on their way towards the Emerald City.

The Wogglebug looked thoughtfully at the Sawhorse for a moment as he walked alongside it and Jack. Then he said, "You know, of course, that if I were to ride upon this Sawhorse instead of the pumpkinhead, he would then not only be an animal but would also become an equipage! For he would then be a horse-and-buggy!"

The Wogglebug burst into laughter at his own joke, and after a moment so did Tip, Amanda, and Alice, Jack didn't though as he didn't understand what was so funny.

"Why are you all laughing at that for?" Jack inquired.

"Because it's funny!" said Tip.

"It is a joke, after all," added Amanda. "And jokes are always meant to be funny.

The Wogglebug nodded proudly and added, "And such a joke, derived from a play upon words is considered among educated people to be imminently proper."

"What does that mean?" asked Jack.

"It means, my dear friend," explained the Wogglebug, "that the English language contains many words that have a double meaning, and to pronounce a joke that allows both meanings of a certain word proves the joker a person of culture and refinement, who has moreover a thorough command of the language."

"Gosh, I never thought of words with double meanings in that way," said Alice in wonder. "You really are educated thoroughly, Mr. Wogglebug. And I wish you could meet the gnat we met before we came to this land for he would love to meet you and learn from you how to tell proper jokes. He would indeed."

"Well, I might like to me this gnat sometime myself also," said the Wogglebug. "I'm always happy to meet anyone who happens to share my interests."

Amanda looked thoughtful for a time and then turned to the Wogglebug again and said, "Well, are you also good at finding answers to riddles with no answer for them?"

"Absolutely!" declared the Wogglebug stoutly.

"Well," Amanda continued. "I've been wondering a lot lately about this one. Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"That is so easy to know!" the Wogglebug exclaimed airily. "You see, they both have black quills! Didn't you know that?"

"Oh my! Of course!" Alice exclaimed as she put a hand to her forehead. "How could I have never have figured it out for myself in the first place!"

"Now I sure would love to see the look on that Hatter's face if he was to hear the answer to his riddle!" Amanda said laughing.


End file.
